Working pole foundation and method

ABSTRACT

A working pole such as a luminaire pole is mounted on a steel cylindrical sleeve extending upwardly from a concrete portion of a foundation member. The foundation member is placed in a hole provided therefor and the luminaire pole or other working pole is placed over the sleeve in contact with the concrete portion of the foundation member; grout is poured between the exterior surface of the upwardly extending steel sleeve and the interior surface of the luminaire pole.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a foundation for and erecting working poles and the like. More specifically, the invention is directed to a foundation method and apparatus for providing support to a working pole, such as a luminaire pole, flag pole, utility poles, and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Working poles, such as luminaire poles for street and area lighting, traditionally have been installed by extending the pole several feet into a hole in the ground followed by backfilling the hole around the pole to thereby make firm contact between the ground and the pole. This type of luminaire pole support is sometimes referred to as “direct burial poles”. Typically, the portion of the pole that is buried in the ground is protected from corrosion by a coating of asphaltic paint, by wrapping with PVC tape, or by other means. This type of supporting luminaire pole is initially economical; however, poles that are buried in this manner have a limited life span as a result of the inevitable corrosion that ultimately attacks the buried portion of the pole. Another significant drawback of the technique of supporting luminaire poles by direct burial technique is that on new construction developments, to facilitate installation of the poles, most contractors would prefer not to install the poles until after the project is near completion. However, since the ditches in which the electrical conduits are buried to provide electricity and power for the luminaries must be dug before concrete work, such as street paving, etc., the poles have heretofore been required to be installed so that electrical connections can be made thereto before the ditches containing the electrical conduits are filled in and are paved.

[0003] The present invention obviates these problems by permitting the luminaire poles to be mounted after construction is completed; that is, the trenches for underground electrical conduits are dug in the usual fashion and at the usual time. Luminaire pole foundations are then positioned at the desired locations along the conduit without the erection of luminaire poles. At a later desired time, the contractor can thereafter erect the luminaire poles and connect the poles to the electrical conductors extending from the electrical conduit. Further, the present invention protects the luminaire poles from the otherwise inevitable corrosion that would otherwise result by the contact of the ground with the buried portion of the luminaire pole. Some prior art attempts have been made to utilize foundation members with tapering sleeves extending upwardly therefrom that conform to and are inserted into corresponding tapering hollow luminaire poles; however, these foundations must be inserted and maintained perfectly vertical so that when the poles are placed thereon the poles themselves are vertical. Further, no horizontal rotational adjustment can be made concerning the angular positioning of the pole for directing illumination or placement of luminaries once the pole is placed on the tapered or conical sleeve.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0004] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a working pole foundation and a method for erecting working poles.

[0005] It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for erecting working poles by eliminating ground-to-pole contact.

[0006] It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel working pole foundation to permit the working pole to be installed after its foundation has been placed in the desired location at a construction site.

[0007] It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for erecting working poles to allow the poles to be erected in a two-step process wherein the foundation is first located at the desired location and the pole is subsequently erected at a later time.

[0008] These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The present invention may more readily be described by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a luminaire pole system extending from a foundation and constructed and erected in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

[0011]FIG. 2 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of a portion of the luminaire pole and foundation of FIG. 1.

[0012]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, taken along line 3-3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, a side elevational view of a luminaire pole system 10 extending from a foundation 11 and constructed and erected in accordance with the teachings of the present invention is shown. The luminaire pole 10 is a typical steel cylindrical hollow pole for supporting a luminaire 12 and luminaire arm 14 at the top thereof. The pole extends from a foundation member 11 which, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, comprises a concrete cylindrical foundation member 11 having an axial opening in the top thereof to receive a cylindrical steel sleeve 18. The luminaire pole 10 includes an inspection hole 28 and a removable covering plate 30 therefor. When the luminaire pole 10 is to be installed in a new construction development, it is appropriate to provide the utility ditches for receiving electrical conduits 26 (not shown in FIG. 1) and to position the respective luminaire poles 10 by digging a receiving hole 17 in the ground at the prospective luminaire pole 10 location. Rather than install the entire luminaire pole 10, the apparatus and method of the present invention permits the contractor to install only a foundation member 11 in the hole 17 provided for the luminaire pole 10.

[0014] Referring to FIG. 2, it may be seen that the foundation member 11 is formed of a cylindrical concrete hollow member 15 that may utilize reinforcing members such as rebar 16 therein to provide structural strength to the bending forces applied thereto by the weight and by the wind forces impinging on the luminaire pole 10. The reinforcing bars may be positioned vertically as shown in FIG. 2 and placed 90° about the interior of the concrete foundation member 11 as most clearly shown by the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3. The foundation member 11 includes a steel cylindrical sleeve 18 that is attached or secured to the concrete portion 15 of the foundation member 11 in any convenient manner such as by tack welding to the rebar 16 or simply secured by the adhesion of the concrete and is in contact with the concrete of the cylindrical sleeve member 18 between the reinforcing members. In some applications, it may be possible to form the foundation member by coating the cylindrical sleeve with cement although it is believed that the concrete foundation member has more universal appeal. As used herein the term “cylindrical sleeve” is intended to include sleeves that may have other than a cylindrical cross-section; for example, the sleeve may be hexagonal or square or any other convenient cross-sectional shape. The circular cross-section of the cylinder is of course the most convenient and represents a typical cross-section of a working pole. The cross-section of the sleeve should generally conform to the interior cross-section of the working pole such that when the pole is mounted on the sleeve the opposing surfaces form a vertically extending space to receive grout.

[0015] The cylindrical concrete foundation member 11 is inserted into the hole 17 provided therefor and the hole is backfilled to securely embed the foundation member 11 in the soil. It should be noted that the concrete portion 15 of the foundation member 11 extends above grade level 20 to insure that moisture from the ground does not contact the luminaire pole 10. An electrical conduit 26 is provided in the hollow interior of the foundation member 11 to receive the necessary electrical wiring for subsequent connection to the luminaire 12 at the upper end of the luminaire pole 10. Thus having installed the foundation members 11 at the desired locations throughout the construction development, the contractor may then proceed with other phases of the construction including, if necessary, paving around the foundation members 11.

[0016] The luminaire poles 10 may then subsequently be installed by placing the hollow luminaire pole 10 over the upwardly extending cylindrical steel sleeve 18 until the bottom edge 29 of the luminaire pole 10 contacts the concrete portion 15 of the foundation member 11 forming a space bounded by the opposing surfaces of the pole and sleeve. Grout 22 is subsequently inserted into the space between the outside diameter of the sleeve 18 and the inside diameter of the luminaire pole 10; in the general case including non-circular cross-sections of sleeve and pole the grout is inserted into the space between the principal inside cross-sectional dimension of the pole and the principal outside cross-sectional dimension of the sleeve. The grout 22 is inserted through the inspection hole 28 that is provided as a standard feature of luminaire poles 10. The grout 22 thus occupies the circumferential space between the sleeve 18 and luminaire pole 10. It may be noted here that while the foundation member is placed such that the sleeve is essentially vertical, slight variations or modifications can be corrected in the system of the present invention by permitting slight variations in the vertical alignment of the working pole. That is, when the luminaire pole is installed over the sleeve, the pole may subsequently be aligned in a perfectly vertical orientation and held in that position until the grout is inserted into the space between the sleeve and the luminaire pole. In this manner, slight deviations from vertical of the foundation that may have resulted from settling of the earth and the like can be corrected by the subsequent vertical alignment of the working pole prior to the insertion of the grout in the space between the sleeve and the pole. It is important to note that the opposing surfaces resulting from the positioning of the pole over the sleeve form a vertically extending circumferential space to receive grout. Prior to the insertion of the grout, the pole may be rotated to an appropriate orientation with respect to the earth's surface to align a luminaire with a desired illuminated area while the pole may also be slightly “tilted” with respect to the sleeve to insure that the pole is absolutely vertical even though the sleeve may deviate slightly from vertical. Once the grout 22 has set, the luminaire pole 10 is maintained in its erected position without further action by the contractor. The grout 22 that is used in the present invention may be typical standard non-shrink grout; it is believed that grout conforming to ASTM 1107 would be appropriate, such grout is low viscosity when initially mixed and is readily pourable into the space between the sleeve 18 and the pole. When the grout 22 sets, it bonds to the external surfaces of the sleeve 18 as well and the internal surfaces of the pole, thus creating a strong joint structure connecting the pole to its foundation member 11. Electrical connections to the luminaire 12 may then be made in the conventional manner by accessing the electrical wiring extending through the electrical conduit 26 in the foundation member 11 and provided within the luminaire pole 10; these connections are made through the inspection hole 28 provided in the luminaire pole 10.

[0017] It is important to note that the rotational alignment of the luminaire 12 and supporting luminaire arm 14 can be made at the time that the pole was mounted on the sleeve 18; that is, the rotational alignment will place the luminaire 12 in the appropriate position above the street or intersection or other area that it is intended to illuminate. It may be noted that there are no rotational limitations on the angular positioning of the luminaire 12; that is, unlike the prior art, there is no required alignment of luminaire base mounting holes with concrete imbedded bolts extending upwardly from a foundation. The luminaire 12 may thus be precisely positioned with regard to the area that it is intended to illuminate without regard to angular positioning of bolt holes at the base of the pole.

[0018] Another significant advantage of the system of the present invention lies in the ability of the foundation members 11 to be constructed off site; that is, the pouring of the concrete foundation members 11 and the positioning of the cylindrical steel sleeve 18 therein may be performed at a location remote from the construction site. In this manner, the foundation members 11 can efficiently and consistently be formed and subsequently transported to the construction site for insertion in the ground holes 17 provided therefor.

[0019] The present invention has been described in terms of selected specific embodiments of the apparatus and method incorporating details to facilitate the understanding of the principles of construction and operation of the invention. Such reference herein to a specific embodiment and details thereof is not intended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made in the embodiments chosen for illustration without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed:
 1. A working pole foundation for supporting a hollow working pole having a predetermined principal inside cross-sectional dimension comprising: (a) a foundation member for insertion into a ground hole provided therefor, said foundation member including an opening therein to receive a sleeve; (b) a sleeve extending into said opening and secured to said foundation member and extending above ground when said foundation member is mounted in said hole; and (c) said sleeve member having a maximum cross-sectional dimension less than said principal inside cross-sectional diameter to permit a working pole to be positioned over said sleeve.
 2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said foundation member is cylindrical and formed of concrete.
 3. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said sleeve comprises a cylindrical steel sleeve.
 4. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said foundation member is formed of cement coated on said sleeve.
 5. A working pole foundation for supporting a hollow working pole having a predetermined inside diameter comprising: (a) a cylindrical concrete foundation member for insertion into a ground hole provided therefor, said foundation member including an axial opening therein to receive a sleeve; (b) a steel cylindrical sleeve extending into said opening and secured to said foundation member and extending above ground when said foundation member is mounted in said hole; and (c) said sleeve having a maximum outside diameter less than said predetermined inside diameter to permit a working pole to be positioned over said sleeve.
 6. A method for mounting a working pole comprising the steps: (a) providing a ground hole; (b) inserting a foundation member having a sleeve extending therefrom into said ground hole with said sleeve extending above ground; (c) back filling around said foundation member; (d) sliding a working pole over said sleeve to form a vertically extending space between said pole and said sleeve; and (e) securing said working pole to said sleeve.
 7. A method for mounting a working pole comprising the steps: (a) providing a ground hole; (b) inserting a foundation member having a cylindrical sleeve extending therefrom into said ground hole with said cylindrical sleeve extending above ground; (c) back filling around said foundation member; (d) sliding a working pole over said sleeve to produce a vertically extending space between an interior surface of said pole and an exterior surface of said cylindrical sleeve; and (e) securing said working pole to said sleeve by pouring grout into said space between the pole and the sleeve.
 8. A working pole system comprising: (a) a hollow working pole having a predetermined principal cross-sectional inside dimension; (b) a foundation member mounted in a ground hole provided therefor; (c) said foundation member including an opening therein to receive a sleeve; (d) a sleeve extending into said opening and secured to said foundation member and extending above ground; (e) said sleeve having a maximum outside dimension less than said principal inside cross-sectional dimension, said sleeve extending into said working pole; and (f) said working pole secured to said sleeve by grout positioned between said principal inside cross-sectional dimension and said outside dimension of said sleeve.
 9. A luminaire pole system comprising: (a) a vertically extending hollow working pole having a principal inside cross-sectional dimension; (b) a foundation member mounted in a ground hole provided therefor; (c) said foundation member including an opening therein to receive a sleeve; (d) a sleeve extending into said opening and secured to said foundation member and extending vertically above ground; (e) said sleeve having a maximum outside dimension less than said principal inside cross-sectional dimension, said sleeve extending into said working pole to form a vertically extending space between an inside surface of said pole and an outside surface of said sleeve ; and (f) said working pole secured to said sleeve by grout positioned in said vertically extending space and contacting said inside surface of said pole and said outside surface of said sleeve.
 10. The combination set forth in claim 9 wherein said luminaire pole and said sleeve are cylindrical. 